


My Perfect Fit

by MorganaNK



Category: Inspector Lynley - All Media Types, Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 09:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganaNK/pseuds/MorganaNK
Summary: Just how much did being partnered change Tommy and Barbara's lives





	1. Barbara

**Author's Note:**

> Property of Elizabeth George and the BBC, no copyright infringement intended

My life can be divided into three specific segments; before Terry died, after Terry died, and when I met Tommy Lynley.

When my brother was alive I had what most people would call a normal life: me, Terry, mum and dad; a group of four, a family. We did the things that everyone else did; school, friends, holidays, chores, studying, working. Life was consistent, and we took it for granted, never dreaming that things would change.

But change they did; and how.

Terry died and my whole world crumbled into dust. Suddenly I had more responsibility than I knew what to do with. There was always something that took up my time, important things that needed my attention. I was trying to cram so much into twenty-four hours; juggling looking after my parents, working shifts that nearly always overran due to the nature of the job, as well as trying to remember to take care of myself. 

I was always exhausted. And bitter. And resentful. And angry. It felt as if the world and everyone in it was conspiring against me. Life was an uphill battle, and the hill seemed to be never-ending. I never seemed to win, no matter how hard I tried.

And then I met Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the Eighth Earl of Asherton.

I was less than thrilled when I was partnered with him. I had heard all about the Eton and Oxford educated arrogant aristocratic bed-hopping ponce who was on the fast track in his career; who hadn’t, and he was everything that I despised. Still, I grudgingly drove to the wedding he was attending and informed him that I was his new partner. I can still remember the disappointment in his eyes; he was obviously aware of me and my reputation too.

Our first case was in Yorkshire, a place where he was as popular as I was! We continually rubbed each other up the wrong way, but by the end of the case we had called an uneasy truce. I had broken down and told him all about Terry, shocked that he didn’t walk away, instead he handed me his handkerchief and listened to me. I began to think that maybe, just maybe, I had found the person I could work with.

With every case our bond was strengthened. He didn’t get annoyed with me when I had to deal with issues surrounding my parents and their care, he understood; even going so far as to help me look for my mum when she had wandered off. He listened to me, offered advice and support. He stood up for me, risked his career for me. He made me feel like I was finally worth something.

Despite our burgeoning understanding, we could still rub each other up the wrong way, and when we rowed, we rowed. It had been so long since I had been shown any kind of kindness without it having strings attached that I would blindly lash out at him; one of our biggest disagreements came when he secretly arranged for my parents’ house to be redecorated so that I could sell it and buy a home of my own. I thought that he was trying to control me when what he was really doing was trying to make my life easier. It was a cack-handed gesture, but as I grew to know him I understood it for what it really was. He was showing me that he cared.

The more we worked together, the more I changed. He made me see that not everyone was out to get me; that benevolence didn’t always come with conditions, that money didn’t necessarily bring happiness, that people from all walks of life are struggling with problems, and that where you come from doesn’t make you, it’s what’s inside that matters most. Despite our differences, or maybe because of them, we became best friends.

I was his confidant; standing by his side and supporting him when he and Helen lost their baby, when their marriage imploded, when Helen died. I comforted him, shouted at him, pushed and pulled, prodded and poked until he was strong enough to stand on his own two feet and face the world again. It was a struggle, but I think our relationship was stronger because of it.

We have been partners for over ten years, best friends for nearly as long. He is my guide, my anchor, the person who brings out the best in me, who never gave up on me when he would have been well within his rights to walk away.

If you had told me all those years ago that he would turn out to be the one person I couldn’t live without I would have laughed in your face, but that is what he has become. A trial by fire was the making of me.

In a few short hours I will be married, something I never thought would happen for me, but he made me believe that I was worthy of someone's love. It turns out that Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the Eighth Earl of Asherton, is the love of my life. My perfect fit.


	2. Thomas

When the five-foot-four feisty whirlwind that is Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers entered my life I was at what I then believed to be my lowest point. The woman I thought was my true love, Deborah, was marrying one of my closest friends, Simon St James, and I was sure that I would never find anyone that could possibly compare to her.

I was sitting with Helen; pouring out my sorrows as well as trying to drown them with champagne when this scruffy woman in an oversize suit appeared. She scowled and pouted as she introduced herself, informing me that I was her new partner and we had a case.

The case was in Yorkshire, a place I wasn’t thrilled to be visiting after past experiences with the local force, but I went where I was told, it was part of the job. Barbara and I spent the whole case throwing verbal brickbats at each other, winding each other up to the point of distraction, but I saw something in her that captured my interest and made me keep coming back every time she shoved me away.

I was under no illusion that Webberley had put us together to see us fail, but the more I got to know her the more I realised that she was a superb detective, and a pretty amazing woman. We still fought, but our arguments normally ended in us coming to some spectacular realisation that would break the case we were investigating wide open.

As the years passed our partnership strengthened and grew into a close friendship. She was the only person I could turn to, the only friend I could trust. When my marriage to Helen imploded, she was there. When Helen died, she was there. However badly I treated her, however hard I tried to drive her away; I knew that I could turn around and there she would be, extending the hand of friendship. She was the first person in my life, the first friend I'd had who wasn’t scared of me and would tell me exactly what she thought, even if I didn’t want to hear it. Me being Lord Asherton meant nothing to her, if I was being an idiot she would let me know in no uncertain terms.

We could insult each other, deride the other’s detective skills, but woe betide anyone who tried to do the same to either of us; we would defend each other without reservation. No one put one of us down and got away with it. We looked out for each other, comforted each other; the bond between us was unbreakable.

The arrogant aristocratic ponce that was partnered with her all those years ago would never have believed that his soulmate could be that prickly detective sergeant; he thought a woman had to have breeding and a first-class education to be worthy of his attention. He was wrong. Today is our wedding day, and the woman who turned my life inside out and upside down finally becomes my wife.


End file.
